Christopher High School

Winners of its last three Tri-County Athletic League games - including back-to-back victories over San Benito and North Salinas - the Gilroy High girls basketball team came into Thursday night's contest against first-place Notre Dame with upset in mind.

Like she has done over and over again in practice this season, Merrett Brown received a pass at the left elbow, squared herself to the hoop and let loose. Though it was a bit different Wednesday night. This time, a boisterous, raucous crowd flooded the Christopher High gym with chants and cheers, there were 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the program’s first league title hung in the balance.

The Christopher High girls soccer team kept pace with first-place Watsonville and upped its Monterey Bay League record to 7-1-1 with a 3-1 road triumph over Monterey High on Tuesday.

Check one. The first-place Christopher High girls varsity basketball team set aside Monterey High 67-31 in Monterey Bay league action Monday night, setting the stage for arguably the biggest game in program history Wednesday night, as it chases down a league title.

Five medalists, including one champion, helped lift the Christopher High wrestling team to a third-place showing out of 44 teams at the El Camino Colt Invitational on Saturday in South San Francisco. The team bronze is the Cougars', who are ranked No. 7 in the Central Coast Section, second-best placing at a tournament this season.

Three Gilroy High girls wrestlers entered Day 1 of the third annual Central Coast Section Girls Championships and two are still alive in the competition, which began Friday at Oak Gorve High School in San Jose.

No love was lost on the court between the Christopher High and North Monterey County boys basketball teams, as a tense, albeit brief benches-clearing scuffle delayed the game for about 15 minutes midway through the second quarter of a Cougars 67-25 victory over the Condors in Monterey Bay League action Friday night.

The Gilroy High girls basketball team has taken the must-win approach seriously. The Mustangs entered the week with a 2-5 record in the Tri-County Athletic League, looking in at the postseason from a distance. Wait just a minute.

The Christopher High boys basketball team had little time to dwell on a difficult one-point loss to Seaside on Tuesday, as the Cougars were back on the court Wednesday against host Pajaro Valley. After a tightly contested first quarter, CHS went on a tear, outscoring the Grizzlies 29-7 in the second quarter en route to an 86-41 victory.

The Christopher High boys varsity basketball team led by three at halftime, by six after three quarters and held a double-digit advantage early in the fourth against visiting Seaside on Tuesday night.